Planning committee OKs $6M loan for Millennium Park expansion

OTTAWA — A major expansion of Millennium Park is one step closer to reality after city council’s planning committee approved fronting $6 million to finish the recreation facility in 2015, years before it would have been completed otherwise.

Under a plan hatched largely by Cumberland ward Coun. Stephen Blais, four developers in the area — Claridge Homes, Mattamy Homes, Minto and Taggart — will design and build the project.

The city originally estimated the cost of completing the park at $13 million and had already set aside $2 million for the project, but because the four developers were willing to design and build the park themselves, it lowered the price tag to $8 million.

Over the next decade, the development companies will pay back the loan, plus interest, through a special area development charge on new homes nearby.

The 11-hectare expansion will see the addition of four irrigated soccer fields, an artificial turf field that could be used for football or soccer, a splash pad, a field house (with washrooms) and other elements such as a gazebo and benches.

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